HOUSTON – A man wrongfully convicted on a 2018 drug charge had his case dismissed Thursday.
Forty-year-old Fredrick Jeffrey is ready to move on with his life.
“It just feels good to finally be done with this. It feels good,” Jeffrey said. “I thank God and my mama [for] being in my corner. It just feels good to finally be free.”
In September, the state’s highest criminal court overturned a drug charge Jeffrey was convicted of in 2018. Jeffrey had already served six years of his 25-year sentence.
Prosecutors said the testimony of a former Houston police officer used to convict Jeffrey was made up. That former officer, Gerald Goines, was also tied to the 2019 Harding Street raid in which prosecutors said Goines lied about drugs in the home, leading to the death of the homeowners.
“Mr. Jeffrey was arrested and convicted based solely on the testimony of former officer Goines. We determined that Officer Goines falsified information in a search warrant and so, without that false information in the search warrant, they never would have had access to the home where Mr. Jeffrey was arrested,” said prosecutor Josh Reiss.
Reiss said there are 162 other defendants whose cases include testimonies from Goines. He said those defendants are eligible for an appeal, but only a dozen has come forward to file paperwork.
Pat McCann, Jeffrey’s attorney, said he’s eligible for compensation from the state and having his record cleared.
“The important thing is he’s free, and this case is done, and my client is walking out the door to see his family,” McCann said.
McCann said he’ll leave it up to Jeffrey whether they’ll seek compensation from Goines and the Houston Police Department in civil court.
Jeffrey said he’s focused right now on spending time with family.
“Just live life,” he said. “Live life. Everybody else living life.”
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